Primal knives are currently the most powerful main-hand and off-hand throwing weapons in the game. Compared to the Sagittarian shortbow, dual-wielding primal knives slightly increases long-term damage output because of access to Needle Strike instead of Dazing Shot. However because of the greater single-shot autoattack damage on the shortbow, it will have the advantage when entering combat. Knives allow the wielder to bind any ammunition, whereas the bow requires arrows to use. For that reason knives are preferred if the player does not have access to the Daemonheim Aura 2 or higher, so that the player may bind the highly required cosmic or law runes.

Because of the ring of kinship customization however, a Sagittarian shortbow is to be preferred, since the release of the Daemonheim achievement diaries. Unlocking the Daemonheim Aura(s) allows for a secondary-effect to be active, meaning one could activate both the Desperado and the Sniper perk. The Sniper perk however only boosts the accuracy of bows, meaning primal knives are unaffected. Overall, the Sagittarian shortbow is the best option if the player has access to Daemonheim Auras.